


legacy

by euphorickiri



Category: Ironheart (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A.I. Tony Stark - Freeform, Gen, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), dominique thorne is riri williams, inspired by the ironheart comics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphorickiri/pseuds/euphorickiri
Summary: "it's not about me. it’s not about you, either. it’s about legacy, the legacy left behind for future generations."when a stranger comes knocking on riri's door, she realizes she's part of a much bigger world than she originally thought.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Riri Williams, Tony Stark & Riri Williams
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	legacy

When Iron Man died, Riri honestly didn’t know what to think.

One minute she was sitting in her garage working on a new suit, and the next she was being held by her mom as she cried, the same suit she was working on before laid unfinished on her work table. Riri liked to think she was prepared for anything that could happen, but the Blip was never something she considered possible. Hearing that five years had gone by affected Riri more than she would like to admit. She could’ve been 20 years old by now, but she was the same 15-year-old girl she had been before the Blip. Her mom looked older, and Riri could tell how much this entire situation affected her. 

As soon as she heard Xavier had also been affected by the Blip, she ran over to his house and hugged him, feeling a little less alone. He knew this was out of character for Riri but he still hugged her back, feeling the same way she did.

Seeing Tony Stark’s face on the news as the words “A Fallen Hero” at the bottom of the screen didn’t feel right. Nothing felt  _ real  _ anymore. It was as if the world was put on pause, and Riri hated that she couldn’t figure out a way to fix it. She drowned herself in her work, more determined to finish her new suit now more than ever. 

She met Tony once. He paid a visit to MIT and he saw her suit, extremely impressed. 

“Riri Williams huh? She’s the real deal.”

She was just getting to know him, and now he was gone. The Invincible Avenger Iron Man was gone, and there was nothing Riri could do about it. A part of her wished he was still here. He wasn’t done. She groaned and slammed her head down on her work table in frustration. Riri turned her head slightly, frowning when she saw the suit Tony complimented when he met her. If the universe was trying to mock her right now, she really didn’t appreciate it. 

“Riri! There’s a package for you!” her mom called.

“Can you please bring it down?” Riri asked.

She rolled her eyes when she didn’t get a response. She sighed and reluctantly got up, opening the garage door. Riri furrowed her eyebrows suspiciously when she saw a man standing at the front door with the package in their hands. He wore a cap that did a poor job of hiding his face, but Riri swore he looked familiar.

“Riri Williams?” he asked hesitantly.

“Depends on who’s asking,” she replied. 

He left the package by the door and stood in front of her, but still kept his distance. “I’m a friend of Tony’s.”

Riri’s breath hitched. “Excuse me?”

“He talked about you a lot. Always raving about some genius kid from MIT,” the stranger mentioned. 

“Why are you here?” Riri demanded.

“Tony knew what he was going to do, and he prepared for it. Whatever’s in that package was part of his plan.” She shook her head in disbelief, moving away from the man. She met Tony once.  _ Once _ . Why would he still be talking about her? And what role could she possibly play in his plan?

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Riri argued.

“Nothing Tony did ever made sense. But this feels right,” the man replied. “I know this is a weird thing to say, especially since we just met, but trust me. You had a bigger impact on Tony than you think.”

A car horn went off and they both turned around. Riri was surprised to see that the stranger didn’t come alone. Another man sat in the driver’s seat of the car parked in front of the house, and it looked like he was growing more irritated as time went on. The stranger in front of her sighed and tipped his hat before walking away. She watched him go, freezing when she saw the logo on the car.

_ Oh. _

For a teenage prodigy, Riri could be really stupid sometimes. 

“Do you ever miss him?” she called out.

The man froze, his hand on the car handle. He took off his hat and faced the teen. Rhodey offered her a sad smile, a haunted look in his eyes. “Everyday.”

Happy honked his horn again, this time with less force. Rhodey finally got in the car and waved as they drove off. Riri watched them go, questioning how this was her life. She walked towards the door and grabbed the package, grunting when she realized how heavy it was. Riri walked back into the garage and placed the package on her work table. She opened it carefully, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion when she found a note. Underneath it was a metal box that read “Push Me!” with a blue button in the center. Riri turned her attention back to the note, rereading it a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

_ For the next Iron Man, I trust you - TS _

She scoffed and put the note down, her gaze focusing on the suit Tony saw again. The universe wasn't mocking her. If anything, it was trying to tell her something. Riri huffed and glared at the note. She didn’t know why, out of all the people in the world, Tony chose her. He was asking her to love up to his legacy, and Riri didn’t even know where to begin.

But she was never one to back down from a challenge. The world has just lost its greatest defender, and Riri refused to sit back and watch everything fall apart.

So if she had to step up and take on Iron Man’s role? Then that’s what she was going to do. Riri shoved all of the unnecessary clutter on her work table away and made room for the metal box. She stared down at the blue button nervously. 

“This better not be a bomb,” she muttered. 

Riri pushed the blue button. She frowned when nothing happened, moving closer to get a better look. Her eyes went wide when the button started to glow and immediately jumped back when a blue beam shot out of it. Riri watched in awe as a figure started to form from the blue beam, her jaw dropping when she saw it was an A.I. Of  _ Tony _ . He didn’t even look slightly phased and crossed his arms, observing Riri’s lab.

“So, hi. I’m Tony Stark. Well, his essence. In essence,” the A.I. greeted.

Riri couldn’t even bring herself to form words, and the A.I. took that as a signal to keep going. “I downloaded my fabulous self into a digital frame in case my body was ever, you know, not working anymore. So, this is me as an advanced artificial intellectual construct. And since I see you need an advanced artificial intelligence construct to help run your fabulous new suit, I think we found each other at just the right time. So let’s get to work Riri, we have a lot to do.”

Riri still couldn’t believe this was happening, but Tony - A.I. Tony? Just Tony? She honestly didn’t know - was right. She looked at her unfinished suit, sighing when she saw how much she still needed to get done.

“The world needs the next Iron Man. Are you ready for that?” the A.I. asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Riri grabbed the note and read it again. She smiled slightly and placed it next to the suit that introduced her to Tony. She put on her work goggles and grabbed a wrench, smirking at the A.I. who looked pleased with her confidence. 

“Hell yeah I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> this one-shot was heavily inspired by the invincible iron man comic (2016 issue) & tony's speech is from that comic! I just thought it would be cool to write how riri could possibly be introduced into the mcu. I hope you guys enjoyed & join the riele downs for riri movement pls and ty <3
> 
> twitter: @IR8NHEART  
> 


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